Environmental justice and corporate social irresponsibility: the case of the mining company Vale S.A; [Justiça ambiental e irresponsabilidade social corporativa: o caso da mineradora Vale S.A]

Saes B.M.; Bene D.D.; Neyra R.; Wagner L.; Martínez-Alier J. · Ambiente e Sociedade (2021) · DOI: 10.1590/1809-4422asoc20210014vu2021l4id

Resumen

After the Vale’s tailings dam failure in Brumadinho (Minas Gerais) in early 2019, a group of researchers and activists from around the world produced a thematic map in the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas) including 30 cases of environmental conflicts in which Vale had a prominent role. In this paper, these cases are analysed in light of Vale’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) discourses and practices, aiming to explore the contradiction of high CSR standards in the company and in other large multinationals in the mining sector coexisting with many socio-environmental conflicts. The analysis indicates that the company’s performance contrasts with its CSR discourse and that, even when Vale considers its performance both responsible and exemplary, the company reproduces environmental injustices and is therefore rather practicing Corporate Social Irresponsibility. © All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Atribution License.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina